This study seeks to explore the public image of professional nursing from 1873 to the present through an analysis of the impact of mass communications on the popular image of the nurse and nursing. Newspaper articles, books, magazines, motion pictures, and television programs constitute the data base which is being analyzed through the methodology of content analysis. This research project will provide (1) an analysis of the image of the nurse in the mass media from 1873 to the present, (2) an investigation of policies and practices guiding the selection and production of mass media products relevant to nursing, (3) an investigation of the nature and effects of contacts between the mass media and the nursing profession, (4) an evaluation of the successes and failures of efforts to validly portray nursing through mass communications, and (5) an analytical narrative which will yield a basis for present-day and future programming efforts to better articulate the image of the nurse to the public and help maximize her/his value to health care delivery.